Hearts of Haven
by shanfourteen
Summary: *Definite spoilers for the last season of Haven* If you took out the last two episodes of Haven and thought about the hijinks that could have ensued if everyone survived and the world was set right, this'd be that.
1. The Birthday (Un)Surprise

**Hi, guys! I'm hoping for this story to be the starting point of an idea I've had since about a week after the finale. The basics are obviously in the summary but for a clarification of sorts, I'm hoping to write a few oneshots (and maybe twoshots!) about a time in which Audrey, Duke, Nathan and James are all able to live after the defeat of Croatoan and the end of the Troubles. A little of summary of the story itself will always be in front of the story as I post them. Anyway, I hope this made sense. None of these characters are mine, they're all rightfully Syfy's and such.**

 **Hope you enjoy! :)**

 _ **(It's James' birthday and Duke's delegated a job that doesn't really go all to plan.)**_

James' 27th birthday falls on a Wednesday, 60 years after he was born. It's his first birthday since coming out of the Barn and the occasion is _huge._ Audrey never really celebrated her birthday, Nathan's was usually a small gathering that most of the time begrudgingly included Duke doing something outrageous if he was actually in Haven, and Duke's only really mattered to him when he was surrounded by the people he cared about, which was rarely. But James is James, the Colorado Kid who never had a lucky day in his life.

Duke offers up the Grey Gull. Its layout is completely different, ever since he refurnished the bar after the sea monster took out most of it, but if Duke's honest with himself, it looks far better than it did before. Nathan and Audrey take the day off early, leaving the cats in trees to Dwight, who says he'll try and join them as soon as he can. Duke, despite it being his place, gets put in charge of making sure James doesn't catch a whiff of the party while Nathan and Audrey set it up. He decides to take him out on the _Rouge._ He hasn't been on it at all, even though he came out of the Barn months ago.

"Fishing?" James repeats when Duke asks him. He's cutting firewood in his backyard, having rolled his eyes when Duke had jumped over the back gate instead of going through it.

Duke nods now, shrugging. "Why not?"

"The last time I went fishing, my father almost knocked me into the river." There's amusement all over his face with a grin to match. It makes Duke happy to know that Nathan put it there.

"If I solemnly swear not to push you into the ocean, will you say yes?"

James narrows his eyes. "You're being overly pushy for someone like yourself, Crocker. Do you have something to hide?"

Duke throws his hands up, trying far too hard to appear like he doesn't. "I'm sorry I just wanted to do something for my buddy on his birthday." He turns around and starts to walk, hoping to everything the reverse psychology works. The sound of an axe hitting the grass makes his footstep falter. The sound of James' voice makes him stop altogether.

"Fine, let's go fishing."

Duke grins for a second before turning back to James. "I knew you'd come to your senses eventually. You take as long as Nathan does to make a decision."

"Like father like son, Crocker," James replies.

"He does that, too." Duke smiles in spite of himself and rolls his eyes. "Pretty sure Duke's easier to remember than Crocker. He's done it ever since we were kids."

"It's a pet name." James clicks his tongue. "He still calls my mother 'Parker'."

"They're married," Duke deadpans and James shrugs.

"We're just a bunch of very emotional people."

Duke snorts. "Well, you are your parents son," he says, mimicking words James said moments ago.

"I'm not just talking about us. You, too."

"Me? Emotional?" He shakes his head as he climbs into the driver's side of his car, waiting until James is in before continuing. "I don't think so."

"You call me and my dad Wuornos." James gives Duke a look while the latter starts the car.

"Because I know that it annoys your father."

"The fact that you like annoying my father seems to mean that you care enough to do so. Therefore emotional."

"I think all that time in the Barn scrambled your brain, kid." They pull out of James' driveway and head towards the pier. "I didn't even cry when Rose allowed Jack to stay in the water when there was a perfectly good amount of space for the both of them on that door."

"Who's Rose and Jack?"

Duke shakes his head. "Never mind. The point is, you're wrong and we're going fishing."

"Fishing, right." James laughs once.

"What's that supposed to mean, junior?"

"You're a distraction."

"Because of my dashing good looks? Tell me something I don't know."

"Why don't we go for a drink at the Gull before we go?" James suggests.

"You think my boat comes _without_ enough alcohol to get us far more inebriated than appropriate?" Duke takes on an affronted look.

"Where are my parents?"

"Working." Duke makes his first actual mistake here, when his answer comes out sounding like a question. He'd never tell anyone but he actually starts to sweat. "Obviously. It's 4 o'clock in the afternoon."

"We could go visit them, couldn't we?"

"We're going fishing." Duke sends him a 'duh' look. "There's only so much daylight left."

"Don't make me pull out the 'it's my birthday' card."

"You're 27."

"And it's my one birthday wish to see my parents at their work."

"What type of person makes that their wish?" It's at this moment, Duke pulls up at the wharf. "Too late now anyway."

"I have long legs." James opens his door. "I could always make a break for it."

"To ashamedly quote your father, 'Don't make me chase you'." Duke jumps out of his own side and starts heading towards the _Rouge._

"So, you _are_ kidnapping me," James says from behind him.

"You came here of your own volition."

"You just threatened to chase me if I ran."

"Who wouldn't want to go fishing with me?"

"Nice change of subject." James laughs. "Did you learn that in one of the many times my father interrogated you?"

"That's a low blow, Wuornos."

"Just telling it like it is."

Duke shakes his head. "You try and do something nice for a guy on his birthday and he talks smack about you. What is the world coming to?" he mutters. His second mistake. Reverse psychology doesn't work twice in the same conversation.

His third and final mistake comes two seconds later, before he even sets foot on his boat. "What's happening at the Gull?"

"Party."

And Duke spins around so fast he almost gives himself whiplash.

James is grinning from ear to ear. "Do I even have to ask whose party?"

"I got done by another Wuornos," Duke says by way of an answer. He looks up at James and points at him. "You better be in the running for an Oscar when we get to the Gull."

James places his palm across his chest. "Cross my heart," he tells him through the grin. " _After_ we go fishing, though, right?"

Duke hesitates for a moment but nods. "Obviously."

The duo turn up at the Gull three hours later. The lights are off and the doors are closed but when Duke lets the younger Wuornos walk in first, there's sound and brightness and _happiness_. James is still dripping wet, the water droplets making small puddles on the floor of the restaurant wherever he walks and Duke has a ripped shirt from where James grabbed him as he fell in. Neither would let the other change and that just about explains their friendship.

 **A/N: Feel free to send me prompts or whatever if you have them! c:**


	2. According To Plan

**Whoa, it's been a while. I'd like to thank everyone for the support so far and I really am sorry for the massive distance between updates. I already have a few ideas started for these guys (and let's be honest, I could write anything for them) so I do hope I can upload in the near future again. As always, none of these characters are mine and are rightfully Syfy's.**

 **Hope you like it, and if you do, feel free to leave a message or even a follow! You guys are the bestest. xx**

 _ **(Duke does a great thing for his best friend, but his best friend does a great thing for him.)**_

Nathan asks Audrey to marry him the night Duke presents a new dish on the Gull's menu.

They're gazing at each other over a table for two, a beer in the hand of each of them. Audrey's wearing a dark red dress, politely picked out for her by Julia because despite the fact that she _is_ able dress herself in the morning, picking a dress for a special occasion in a small town like Haven is like finding a needle in a haystack. Nathan's in a suit but his jacket's dangling off the back of his chair and his sleeves are rolled up as if he's uncomfortable in the white dress shirt. He looks almost identical to James, who's standing out on the balcony with a few of his work colleagues, apart from the forearm Guard tattoo Nathan still slightly regrets.

In other words, they look fancy. Even though Duke told them to not dress up. _It's nothing huge and you guys don't have to come_ , he'd said. But they had, because the Gull is important to Duke and therefore important to them.

Nathan proposes exactly five minutes after Duke's announced the new dish.

"We should get married, Parker." His voice is quiet, Nathan-like, but there's an undeniable change in it that's been there since they saved the world.

"But then what would you ever call me?" she returns, and if Nathan wasn't already looking at her, he'd know she was smiling, the smile that doesn't hide anything. It's the one imprinted in his brain, in his heart. The weightless smile of someone who no longer has the universe to carry.

"Parker," Nathan answers as if it's common sense.

Audrey bites her lip before taking a sip of her beer. "I would love to, Nathan."

The lights overhead suddenly flicker into something brighter and every single patron in the Gull turn to look at them. Even James and his friends are inside, standing against the now closed French doors.

Duke's standing behind the bar, his hands formed in finger guns directed at the lights as if he knew exactly when they'd go off. The only time he's ever looked happier than right now is 6 months ago when his eyes had returned to their brown. "Yes," he says before anyone else can get a word in, his eyebrows raised in mock seriousness. "I planned this."

The corners of Nathan's eyes crinkle in confusion, flicking to his son's before settling back on Duke. "What?"

He brandishes a plate of the new dish as if he used to work on The Price is Right. "I made this for you guys. There's a reason it's called the Twenty Seven." Placing it back on the bench, he steps out and heads towards the table Nathan and Audrey are seated at. As he does so, Nathan's eyes scan the entire Gull, recognising people until there's no more people left to recognise. Every single person in this bar are important to both him and Audrey. Duke squeezes Nathan's shoulder. "Let me be the Crocker to your Wuornos for a moment." Nathan gets the Sherlock Holmes reference immediately and rolls his eyes as Duke continues to speak.

Duke holds up three fingers. "Three weeks ago, we were talking about the future with James on the _Rouge_. Audrey was at work but for some reason they rostered you off. I blame Sasquatch." He rolls his eyes in jest. "Anyway, since we're all now going to now unfortunately live to 90, we were talking about what we going to do for the rest of that time. You mentioned wanting to visit your dad more often, you wanted to go fishing more, you wanted to save more cats in trees. I'm definitely exaggerating here but it's enough to plead my evidence." This time Nathan rolls his eyes at the complete lack of regard for the English language. But Duke isn't finished yet so he doesn't say a thing. "You mentioned nothing about Audrey, which James and I thought was weird." The first finger bends, leaving two remaining. "A fortnight ago, you _dodged_ me in the main street and I followed you, of course. I watched you head into a jewellery store and I thought, 'Huh, he's probably not getting me anything to apologise for cheating in paintball the other week and he wouldn't buy James anything fancy like this so it must be for Audrey'." Duke only has one finger left and he points it at Nathan. "One week ago, the realisation hit me like a tonne of bricks. I actually _dropped a slab of beer_ when I realised that you were going to propose to her." A splatter of laughter echoes around the room and Duke shakes his head. "And while you're still going to give me a constant headache for the rest of my life, what better place to propose than when you're surrounded by all your family and friends?"

Nathan stands and gives Duke a shoulder squeeze. "Could I speak?" he asks wryly and Duke nods. "Three weeks ago, I asked Dwight to roster me off so I could spend the day with you and James. It was a lovely day, really." He winks at his son, who's already grinning. "Two weeks ago, I made sure we crossed paths and blew you off so that you _would_ follow me. The best way to make a Crocker do something is to ignore them. One week ago, I asked everyone what they were doing on the incoming Friday night and they told me they were coming here. For a _dish_ reveal." Nathan's smirk is all over his face.

"Trap," Duke says after a moment. "I walked right into you making me think I was cleverer than I actually am."

"It was a test," Nathan admits and Audrey can no longer hold in her quick laugh. It bubbles out and Duke looks at her with an eyebrow quirked before turning his attention back to the matter at hand.

"Tests really aren't my thing, Nathan." He pauses and then adds, "I don't really know if I've ever passed one well." His face scrunches up as if he's thinking about it.

"Consider this one being the first test you aced, then." Nathan grins. "I told Audrey I was going to propose to her three and a half weeks ago. I just needed to sort out all the logistics. The people, the ring, the place." He points at Duke. "You were part of the people, and you played your role perfectly."

"I did?" Duke shakes his head and holds up his finger in typical Duke fashion. "Wait, wait, wait. My role? For what?"

"Duke, I want you to be my best man."

It's like the floor comes up and punches Duke in the stomach and for a tiny millisecond Duke wonders if someone's Trouble has caused it. "Best man?" he manages to get out.

"Oh, Duke," Audrey says fondly around a mouthful of food. She gestures at him with her fork. "Yes, best man, for the upcoming wedding. You know, between me and Nathan?"

Duke straightens. "Right. Well, my answer is obvious so I don't have to say it." He crushes Nathan into a hug and pats Audrey on the head. "And finally, you two. I mean…" He lets his breath out as loudly as possible and rolls his eyes. Nathan laughs into Duke's shoulder and Audrey leans back in her chair and stands, ducking out of the way of Duke's hand long enough to pin it behind his back. Letting go of Nathan, he holds up his hands in a show of surrender. "Truce, truce," he laughs. Audrey's own laugh escapes her again and she shakes her head as the milling patrons join the trio and offer their own congratulations.

It's not until everyone's gone home after many ingested alcoholic drinks and possibly a few drinking games amongst conversations and it's just Duke, Nathan, James and Audrey inside the Gull that Duke asks something that's been on his mind all night.

"Please tell me you didn't let baby Wuornos in on this before me?"

Nathan and Audrey share an amused look but James jumps in before either of them can form a sound. "They had to. I mean, I'm their son?" It comes out like a question and James blames the celebratory beers he's been knocking back all night.

"Son schmun," Duke grumbles, taking a slow slip of his multi-coloured cocktail. "I've known you since before he was born."

Audrey snorts. "Not techn-"

James' shushing cuts her off. "Just let him have it tonight," he says, grinning. Duke's head is getting closer to the table and the arm that's resting on it the more they look at him. "He's had a big day."

The playful stroking by Nathan and son on his hair is what does Duke in and within seconds he's out, his content snores the soundtrack to a night gone according to plan.

Nathan's, though, of course.

 **A/N: Also, still feel free to send me prompts or whatever about this happy time after Haven finished, because nothing bad happened, right?**

 **Shannon x**


End file.
